HAWTHORNE (CNS) - A man driving a suspected stolen car led authorities on a roughly 90-minute chase from Chino Hills in San Bernardino County to Hawthorne, where the vehicle was disabled by a PIT maneuver and the driver was taken into custody tonight with the help of a police dog.
The chase began about 6:30 p.m. and ended just after 8 p.m.
The suspect drove as far west as the Ventura (101) Freeway in the Sherman Oaks area, where the car sideswiped a Prius. It was then rammed by police SUV but not stopped, and the suspect then went the wrong way on a transition road, narrowly missing a tanker truck and several other vehicles heading in the opposite direction, before turning onto the southbound San Diego (405) Freeway.
The chase continued on the southbound San Diego Freeway into the Hawthorne area, where a CHP SUV was used to execute a PIT maneuver that sent the suspect vehicle into a spin.
The suspect refused commands to exit the disabled vehicle, instead climbing into the rear seats, at which time officers fired what appeared to be less lethal rounds to break out windows.
A K-9 was sent in and after a few moments, the suspect began to exit and was dragged out by officers and cuffed.
It was unclear if the police dog suffered any injuries.
An earlier attempt to stop the car with PIT maneuver was not successful.